The present invention relates in general to healthcare furniture and more particularly to convalescent bedding. Most particularly, this invention relates to a linkage for interconnecting the back section and the knee section of an articulating bed.
Adjustable or articulating beds are commonly used in the health care field. A typical bed includes a base and a mattress frame or support which is divided into a head or back section, a seat section and a leg or foot section. The mattress frame sections are pivotally interconnected and have a range of adjustment. The sections are normally movable from a flat, patient resting position to a seated position. The sections of the bed can be pivoted by motor drives, hand operated cranks, the patient""s weight or other similar arrangements. In addition, most articulating mattress frames may be tilted to raise either the head or feet of a patient lying on the bed.
Examples of multi-position adjustable beds may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,486, issued to Warren J. Peterson and U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,718, issued to Bernard J. Krauska. The bed disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,486 includes a mattress frame having a head section, a seat or intermediate section and a foot section, which are pivotally interconnected.
In the vast majority of instances, the full range of adjustment available with beds heretofore provided is not used. The most common mode of operation is to raise the mattress surface or sleeping surface from a flat configuration to a raised position when patient care is being administered. Raising the sleeping surface reduces back strain on the attendant while changing dressings, bandages, clothes and performing tests, and other like operations. When a patient is left unattended, the bed is typically placed in a lowered position for patient comfort and to reduce possible injury in the event the patient attempts to leave the bed. When the mattress sections are being articulated, typically the back and/or head sections are the most frequently used mode. Back section elevation is used to increase the comfort of the patient while eating, reading, conversing, and watching television or the like. In addition, a patient will typically use the back section as an arm support while exiting the bed.
Prior articulating beds generally have rather limited adjustability of the mattress sections, and typically require a complicated mechanism to provide a tilt function. In addition, prior beds utilizing pivoting links for a raising and lowering function commonly have an appreciable amount of side movement during the raising or lowering operation due to the relatively small pivot radius provided by the linkage.
A need therefore exists for an adjustable or articulating bed of reduced complexity which meets the most common operation modes or requirements and which provides a simple and straightforward operation.
The present invention is directed towards a linkage for an articulating bed. The linkage comprises a first latch arm which extends from the knee section of an articulating bed. A latch bar is connected between the first latch arm and the back section of the articulating bed. The latch bar is displaceable between a first position and a second position. The latch arm is engageable with the latch bar when the latch bar is in the first position to maintain movement of the back section independent relative to the knee section. The latch arm is engageable with the latch bar when the latch bar is in the second position to interconnect the back section and the knee section.
Various objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment, when read in light of the accompanying drawings.